No. The current requirement for stopping for school buses is unchanged and will not be affected by the new law.

When a bus displaying the Yield to Bus sign signals its intention to leave a bus bay by activating the left turn signal, drivers approaching from the rear in the lane adjacent to the bus bay are required to slow down or stop to allow the bus to re-enter the lane, unless it is unsafe to do so.

For the purpose of this law, bus bays are bus stops that require buses to exit from and re-enter an adjacent lane of traffic. They include mid-block indented bays, the indentation in the sidewalk immediately before and after intersections, and bus stops between legally parked cars.

Yes. The law applies to "every driver of a vehicle". That includes cars, taxis, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and other buses.

Infractions under the Yield to Bus law carry a fine of $90. Drivers charged could settle out of court by paying the fine, much like other traffic tickets.

You can find CO2 information for all new cars (available for purchase in the UK) on the Vehicle Certification Agency's website, www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk.

The data for all new cars (available for purchase in the UK) is broken down by class - such as supermini, family car, estate etc. - in line with the What Car? classifications. What Car? does this by using their extensive knowledge and understanding of customers to classify each vehicle in the most helpful way possible - using the characteristics and utility of each car.

Each class list from What Car? is ranked using CO2 tailpipe emissions data taken from European Type Approval testing data.

There are currently no fully electric cars available for general purchase in the UK. The small electric vehicles that can be purchased are classified as quadricycles.

Generic CO2 emissions data for second hand cars aren't available online. But if you have a specific second hand car in mind, use the registration plate to request its CO2 emissions on the DVLA website at www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk.

All the cars in the table can run on blends of up to 5% biofuel without any modifications to the engine. Flex-fuel cars which run on blends of up to 85% bioethanol, will be included in the tables if they are among the top 10 cars in their class (based on tailpipe emissions of CO2). However, the CO2 benefit of a flex-fuel car over a conventional car is not recognised in the tailpipe emissions data. Reliable well-to-wheel emissions data, which would highlight the CO2 benefits of flex-fuel cars, is not currently available.

In some cases there are fewer than ten new cars that match the search criteria based on the What Car? class, fuel type and gearbox listings. If so, fewer than ten cars will be listed. In other cases there are a number of cars that have the same CO2 emissions. These are ranked equal in the table, which means more than ten cars can sometimes be listed.

VIN is the Vehicle Identification Number and MY is the Model Year. This information highlights changes to cars that are made as they are updated and which may affect the car's CO2 emissions. So the 2006 model of a car may have different CO2 emissions to the 2007 model of the same car. The two cars would therefore have different entries in the ranking tables.

To calculate miles per gallon take 282.48 divided by the number of litres of fuel consumed per 100km, which will give you the mpg.

These are specific areas where only individual action can make a difference, like driving behaviour and purchasing decisions, but the Department for Transport is also working to reduce the impact of transport on the environment by:

1. reducing the carbon content of fuel - for example through the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation which will require 5% of transport fuel sold in the UK to come from renewable sources by 2010.


2. improving fuel efficiency - for example by linking car tax rates to car fuel efficiency, supporting European action to improve new car fuel efficiency and providing funding for research into low carbon cars.


3. encouraging smarter travel choices - for example through record investment in public transport to give people a real choice of ways to travel, by funding Cycling England and initiatives such as the Sustainable Travel Towns Initiative.


4. promoting the inclusion of transport in emissions trading schemes

Smarter Driving not only saves fuel it can also help keep you and your family safer on the roads. An important part of Smarter Driving is looking ahead so you can anticipate the actions of other road users and recognise potential hazards early, so it's also safer driving.

Watch your rev counter or just listen to your engine. For diesel cars you should aim to change gear at 2000rpm. For petrol cars you should aim to change gear at 2500rpm.

Take a look at your car manual, it will have tyre pressures listed. If you can't find your car manual then contact your local dealer who should be able to help.

Our world is surrounded by a blanket of gases which keeps the surface of the earth warm and able to sustain life. This blanket is getting thicker as we burn fossil fuels, trapping so-called greenhouse gases and changing our climate drastically. Deforestation is also adding to the problem.

Scientific evidence indicates that, because of climate change, we may experience more intense and more frequent extreme weather events. A gradual increase in temperature also has major implications for ecosystems, growing seasons, animals and their habitats.

Some changes to the climate are inevitable. Even if we stop emitting gases now, the gases we have already released will still have an effect. However, we shouldn't give up - we must do everything we can to avoid further changes and to adapt to the new situation we find ourselves in.

Even if we stop burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests today, the world's climate will still warm in years to come. However we must do everything we can to avoid further changes and to adapt to the new situation we find ourselves in. There is a time lag between when the emissions occur and when we begin to feel their effects, so we have yet to experience the impact of the greenhouse gas emissions from the last 30-40 years. Scientists have identified some of the likely effects of this warming.

Some regions will experience more extreme rainfall while others will experience drought.

The sea level could rise by more than 40 centimetres by the end of the century. There are two reasons for this. First, as the water in the oceans warms, it expands. Second, ice from the polar caps and from glaciers is melting into the sea. Rising sea levels will completely swamp some small, low-lying island states and put millions of people in low-lying areas at risk.

There will be less water available for irrigation and drinking because there will be less rain, and salt from rising sea levels will contaminate ground water in coastal areas. Droughts are likely to be more frequent. Three billion more people could suffer increased water shortages by 2080. Northern Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent will be the worst affected.

As temperatures increase and rainfall patterns change, cereal crop yields are expected to drop significantly in Africa, the Middle East and India.

As temperatures increase, the areas that harbour diseases such as malaria, West Nile disease, dengue fever and river blindness will shift. It is predicted that 290 million additional people could be exposed to malaria by the 2080s, with China and Central Asia seeing the biggest increase in risk.

Higher temperatures and reduced rainfall could mean the loss of large areas of Brazilian and southern African rainforest, this is on top of the forest that we are cutting down to clear land for agriculture. These forests currently act as a 'sink' by absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.

There will always be some degree of uncertainty in understanding a system as complex as the world's climate. However, there is now strong evidence and almost unanimous agreement that significant global warming is occurring. It is also likely that most of the recent warming can be attributed to human activities.

Some changes to the earth's climate are caused by the effects of the sun, land, oceans and atmosphere on each other. These often occur over very long periods of time.

Human activity has changed the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in two important ways. Firstly, we have cut down forests to develop land for agriculture. Trees absorb carbon dioxide so, with fewer trees, more carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere. Also, the agriculture that replaces the forests can often be a source of emissions.

Secondly, by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas for energy, we release greenhouse gases. Currently, burning fossil fuels worldwide emits about 6.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Since before the industrial revolution, which began in the 18th century, concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased by 30%.

There are some changes that have happened already which cannot be reversed. However, by acting now, we can reduce the risk of big changes occurring to our climate and reduce the impacts that we and future generations will experience.

In fact, every reduction in emissions that takes place, no matter where it occurs, makes a difference by not adding to the risk. Countries like the UK are also in a great position to set a positive example for the rest of the world. We do need other countries to join in, but if we can show that we can rise to the challenge successfully and make a real difference, others will follow.

Not true. Tackling climate change as a whole is not going to be easy, but if everyone makes small changes to their behaviour it can make a big difference overall.